Box Score Sept. 17, 2015 Box Score
CHICAGO -- Sasha Simon scored his first goal of the season in the 84th minute Thursday afternoon to push the UIC men's soccer team (3-2-1) to a 1-0 victory against DePaul (1-5-0) at Wish Field.
Andrew Putna and
Jorge Alvarez assisted on the goal, as Putna sent in a long ball that connected with Alvarez, who dished the ball off to Simon.
"It was a very typical rivalry game between DePaul and UIC," head coach Sean Phillips said. "There was very small margin of error and we both had some opportunities to make plays. Our bench, which has done it all year, came through. One of our reserves came in and made a big difference, he put his body on the line and scored a goal."
It was a fight from start to finish for both teams as a total of 40 fouls were called and nine yellow card cautions were shown. The Flames' defensive efforts continuously broke up the Blue Demons in the run of play as they were held to mere two shots in a game, marking the fewest shots taken by an opponent since Belmont attempted the same number last season.
"The defense held fast. DePaul has some very talented attacking players and I thought our guys did a good job of limiting their really good chances. We were better today on set pieces than we have been, but we have to continue to get better."
UIC was able to make the most out of its possessions as it took eight shots with three reaching on goal. Seven players contributed to the total with
Oscar Gonzalez,
Marco Alvarez and Simon earning the shots on goal.
The first half presented an even matchup. The Flames were kept to one shot in the half that came as a solid attempt from Gonzalez resulting in a save in the 14th minute. DePaul came up with its lone two shots of the game, with their second coming as the closest chance on a free kick taken from distance that sailed just high in the 42nd minute.
UIC began to take over in the second half and had its first three shots from
Jose Fuentes,
Joel Leon and
Abel Guzman come just off target. (Marco) Alvarez forced the second save of the game in the 77th minute after dodging a defender and being stopped point blank.
Manny Chavez put the next shot high over the crossbar.
The Flames continued to press on and it paid off in the 84th minute.
Gonzalo Romo set up Putna to send the ball down the field to (Jorge) Alvarez, who passed the ball off toward the goal. Simon came up to connect on the ball and score as the Blue Demons goalkeeper was caught coming out of his net.
Putna did not need to make a save in the match behind solid defense as he picked up his third shutout of the year. His assist on Simon's goal was the third of his career and second in the last two games.
"I can't think of a better type of win to get going into Horizon League play that starts on Sunday. The Horizon League games are all rivalry games and they're very tough. Sometimes you can play good soccer, sometimes you have to grind it out. I thought today we showed a little bit of that ability to grind victories out."
The Flames will get the conference portion of their schedule underway on Sunday with a matchup against Green Bay at 1 p.m. CT at Flames Field.
